Salmonellosis Is In Decline

Campylobacter infections still topped the list of zoonotic diseases in the European Union and that the number of cases due to Salmonella infections in humans fell for the fourth year in a row.

 The European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
(ECDC) have published their Community Zoonoses Report for 2007. In
2007, infections from Campylobacter were again the most frequently
reported zoonotic disease in humans across the European Union with
200,507 cases compared to 175,561 in the previous year, an increase
of 14.2%. Regarding Salmonella, although the number of cases showed a
decrease for a fourth successive year, 151,995 people were affected
by the bacterium in 2007 compared to 164,011 in 2006. The number of
Listeria infections in humans in 2007 remained at the same level as
in 2006 with 1,554 confirmed cases; Listeria also showed the highest
mortality rate, especially among vulnerable groups.
"The
2007 Zoonoses Report shows that many bacteria are still being
transmitted from animals to our food. It is good to see that
Salmonella is on the decline likely due to the control measures taken
along the food chain. Campylobacter and Listeria in food are still of
concern and need to be addressed," EFSA's Director of Scientific
Cooperation, Hubert Deluyker said.
In foodstuffs, Campylobacter,
which generally causes diarrhoea, cramps and fever in humans, was
mostly found in raw poultry meat with an average of 26% of samples
showing contamination . In live animals, Campylobacter was found in
poultry, pigs and cattle.
Poultry and pig meat were reported as
the foods most frequently associated with Salmonella, and on average
5.5 % of all fresh poultry meat samples within the European Union was
found to be contaminated*. Eggs and egg products, which are well know
sources of Salmonella infections, were also found to be contaminated,
while the bacterium was only rarely detected in raw dairy products,
vegetables and fruits. In animal populations, Salmonella was most
frequently detected in poultry flocks. In 2007, the Commission
launched a new control programme against Salmonella in breeding
poultry flocks and at the end of that year 15 Member States had
already met the legal target of 1%, which is set for end 2009**.
The
importance of a zoonosis as a human infection does not depend only on
its incidence in the population, but also on its severity, as some
may cause serious illnesses or have higher mortality rate, despite
relatively low number of cases. This is the case for instance of
Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), which accounted for a total of
2,905 human infections in the European Union. Among animals and
foodstuffs, VTEC was most often reported in cattle and bovine meat,
and very rarely in vegetables. Also, the number of Yersiniosis cases
in humans in 2007 was 8,792, with the bacterium being found mostly in
pigs and pig meat. The two parasitic zoonoses Trichinellosis and
Echinococcosis were reported in 779 and 834 human infections
respectively within the European Union. The report also provided data
on other zoonotic diseases, such as Brucellosis, Toxoplasma and
Rabies.